Results 3,281-3,300 of 4,674 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Rail Services (20 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason for decreasing the length of DARTs being run at peak hours resulting in services at rush hour periods being cramped to a very uncomfortable and possible unsafe degree. [14099/13]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Taxi Regulations (20 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if taxi drivers will be able to apply decal branding to their taxis which is bilingual; or if they will be able to affix one in English and one in Irish on either side. [14100/13]

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: It is not clear in the documents. That is what I meant.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: It is about choices but ultimately we have gone down this road. The ordinary people who have to pay these taxes are seeing a hike of almost 20%, and in some cases, much more. Cars were to cost less but some have now increased in price by up to 30%, which is a massive increase. The Government is trying to justify that to the people when it is going to take €150 million from what is...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: No. It is very deceptive. If money is to be taken out to fund something else there should be an explanation in the Bill that makes this clear.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I accept that. However, I put on record that I will oppose this measure on a later Stage.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: It was Deputy Stanley.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: It is not agreed.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I wonder why we did not get notice in advance of the inclusion of a new section 7 as outlined by the Minister of State. We should have been alerted to the fact that it is proposed that money will be transferred from the fund to pay off the national debt. That seems to go against the idea of what we are doing in the Bill and why we are raising revenue, which is to provide for local authority...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I have a few questions for the Minister of State. He said that just under €1 billion was collected in 2012. How is that distributed per county using the equalisation mechanism? Is there a way of estimating the distribution? Apart from the contribution towards repayment of the national debt, I ask the Minister of State to provide a breakdown on how the moneys are distributed....

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: That would be helpful. What moneys are provided to local authorities for the upkeep of roads? I ask for a breakdown of the distribution of the funding as to what is provided for dealing with potholes, for example. It seems that the rates are more favourable to new cars than older cars with the same emissions. This does not seem right. I ask the Minister of State to clarify the situation....

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: My party's amendment was ruled out of order on the basis that it was not Revenue-friendly, that is, that there were cost implications involved. However, if the criteria for acceptance of amendments is that there be no cost implications, then we would never have any amendment accepted. It is wrong that the amendment was ruled out of order on that basis. For future reference, is the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I know that.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: Is it common?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I have read the response and heard what the Minister of State has just said. It is not the Minister of State or the Department that has ruled the amendment out of order. In 2008 people were sold the idea that if they bought cars with low CO2 emissions they would pay lower motor tax. It seems very unfair that my party's amendment has been ruled out of order because people were sold a pup.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I acknowledge that but I feel very strongly that people have-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Line Rental Charges: Discussion with Commission for Communications Regulation (14 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: I thank the representatives of ComReg for everything. The big issue obviously is that of the fixed line charges. While Mr. O'Brien stated there is a universal service guarantee at present, he has outlined that as competition increases, there will be possible threats to this in the future. This is feared by a lot of people in rural areas, particularly, as Mr. O'Brien has mentioned, if the...

Job Creation and Economic Growth: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (13 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: When Fine Gael and the Labour Party entered government, they inherited an utter mess. It could be argued that they did very little even in opposition to articulate an alternative but they certainly did not create the mess of the property boom and bust. They were not at the reins when employment started to plummet. There would be an element of unfairness in blaming the Government for the...

Job Creation and Economic Growth: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (13 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: When Fine Gael and the Labour Party entered government, they inherited an utter mess. It could be argued that they did very little even in opposition to articulate an alternative but they certainly did not create the mess of the property boom and bust. They were not at the reins when employment started to plummet. There would be an element of unfairness in blaming the Government for the...

Order of Business (13 Mar 2013)

Dessie Ellis: Domestic violence plagues society and particularly affects women and children. We have seen examples over the years in our clinics. Will there be a provision in the housing Bill to recognise that domestic violence is a primary cause of homelessness? Safe Ireland and similar groups are looking for such a provision. It is very important. The Taoiseach has said the housing Bill is coming...